Former Macquarie broker pleads guilty



Former Macquarie broker, Newton Chan, has pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Chan has pleaded guilty to eight counts of market manipulation and one count of providing false or misleading information to ASIC.
The charges relate to Chan’s alleged manipulation of the share price of Bill Express (BXP), which is now in liquidation, while he was a senior client adviser at Macquarie Equities.
ASIC alleges that for a period of almost two years, Chan used a number of trading accounts held by various individuals and entities with Macquarie Equities to purchase BXP shares to the value of $6.1 million through hundreds of transactions.
ASIC alleges these transactions created — or were likely to create — an artificial price for BXP.
Chan will appear in the Supreme Court of Victoria for a plea hearing on 21 June 2010.
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